Consumer Reports, aggregated ...

[nprsmart]

Originally Posted by a2jack

I'm afraid our little car is in for a rough ride at Consumer Reports.

No point of knocking CR, as it will not diminishing their influence with the car buying public. When the full road test report hits, it is sure to lose sales for Smart, and hurt our resale. A2Jack

For every person that reads CR, there will be a dozen yelling "cool car" as we drive by (happened again tonight after taking my wife out to supper). I debated taking the car to the car wash after dinner tonight to wash the nose prints off...again. There was a steady stream of folks checking out the car in the restaurant parking lot while we ate dinner.

Car & Driver printed some letters about the smart in the issue that arrived today...also included a cute cartoon of what the smart would have looked like if GM had designed it, but I digress... One writer moans about the price of keeping muscle cars in fuel, but then goes on to say that the smart will fail because it "only" gets 32mpg instead of over 55mpg. Having made an extended highway run with 55mpg, I'm quite happy with my little bug, thank you very much.

C&D did also print a couple of nice letters sticking up for the smart.

In a review of a Chinese car a little later in the same issue, C&D admits they enjoy driving cars that attract attention from other motorists. I have never driven a car that attracts so much attention.

I've also never owned a car that was worth more two months after I drove it off the lot than the day I bought it. (see eBay Motors for current examples).

The fortwo has it's quirks (eg. automated manual transmission and rather firm ride), but it has grown on me and it is the ride of choice that I pick nearly every time I head out the back door for the driveway. In the final analysis, I don't care WHAT DR or C&D think of my car as long as I'm having a ball driving it.

[Dunerunner]

Why would Consumer Reports even print a review this skewed?

The reporter has an Escalade and can't get rid or it? No one at CR had forsight enough to order one last year? They really liked the little car but, having not done any research on it; wrote a gut level report they thought would be popular? Are really in the back pocket of Ford and GM and are protecting that market?

Well, maybe they just made a mistake!!

[angel]

I use to say CR should stay with reporting things they know more about like toasters and paint. Then I got to know a professional painter and found out they don't know jack squat about that either. Too bad so many put their faith in other people {that's all they are after all} to make judgments for them because they can't think and compare for themselves.

[lowndex]

Personally, I have never kept the stock wheels and tires that come with a new car or truck. I have even brought the replacement wheels and tires to the dealer to install. Of course, I negotitated a trade-in value when I purchased the car. This may sound like money foolish. Most new cars come with a wheel/tire configuration intended for maximum mpg, usually at expense of ride comfort. If you think Contiental tires are high quality,.........

Consider changing your stock 15" wheels and tires to 16" with slightly increased offset; not 17" or bigger. The small change will reduce your mpg by an avg. of 0.8 mpg (Scangauge II). Considering how much nicer my Passion rides today, it was worth it.
Wheel Tech - Offset

The slight increase in offset will also help your car track the road better (feel like the tires are grabbing the road better - feel more planted). It is adviseable to maintain the tire aspect ratio as close to stock as possible.
Tire Tech Information - Calculating Tire Dimensions

In lay terms, keep the front wheel smaller than the rear when you change to 16" wheels and tires (like the car is stock). The slightly larger tire size will add a great deal of ride comfort. See My Garage for details.
a.) I sold my Smart 15" stock wheels and tires for almost $700.00. You can get more if you are patient.
b.) A new set of custom 16" wheels will run you about $1200.00 (I said about).
c.) New 16" tires will run about $680.00 (mounted, balanced and installed).

Total: $1200 + 680 = 1880 - 700 (sale of original wheels and tires) = $1180 to greatly improve the ride and handling of your new Smart car. You know, the car you will keep for years while getting 38 mpg, or more.

Are you a racer or a commuter?
How you drive your car has everything to do with after market modifications you consider making. Regarding wheel and tire sizes, a small change is all I recommend. So, if you are a commuter, keep the tire aspect ratios close to stock and don't install bigger than 16" wheels and tires. Anyone driving around with huge wheels and low profile tires lost the dental fillings in the head long ago.

Now, you will get advice to increase the front tire size to the same as the rear to address the Smart's understeer problem.
Understeer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Unless you plan to race your Smart at the track or drive aggressively, which is quite difficult given the low power of the Smart, I would ignore this suggestion. A bigger front tire will fix understeer. It will also make the car ride harsher in normal driving conditions. AND, it will increase the car's instability in wet road conditions! If you move from 15" to 17" tires, you will lose somewhere around 2-3 mpg.

[a2jack]

Originally Posted by NCC1701

Pretty close to my attitude. And, if I keep it for 12-18 months I might be lucky enough to break even ... considering supply & demand, and what they're selling for on eBay 'today'.
Might swap it for a 2010 even if I do like the 2008.

NCC. Thats our strategy too . We plan to order another smart in July and try to score a 2010. This will allow us to keep a work car in warranty without popping for the "extended". Don't think we would sell the 08 though. Just drive it less.

Also would like to get one of the new colors. A green one this time.

[Karl Roth]

And the car all the reviewers keep slamming seem so different to me. Am I just Blind as some here have suggested, besotted as I am by the little car.
I certainly don't think so. I liked the concept from first sight would have probably excused a number of foibles just to make her mine.
The car in my driveway is a nice car. Tiny on the outside, roomy inside. It does all the things my other cars do only it is more effeiciant for 99.9 % of the driving my spouse and I do. None of the things that matter to me have nubers attached to them. Don't hold up traffic with it moves right along zips past the blue haired sweeties in the Buick no problem. The absolute best part for me is that I get the economy of a well driven manual with the convenience of an automatic allowing my spouse to share the car with me.
People look at it and say but there is no room for the entire posse in there. Well I can rent a minivan for that day. It does all the "normal car stuff" pretty dang well. Did it replace the BMW M 5 on my wish list, well no but she still makes me very happy.
karl

[smartie]

If you read the owner reviews on the Consumer Reports Web site you find a complety different set of opinions to the "official" CR report:
Consumer Opinions - smart fortwo
Bottom line: Owners love 'em, soulless editors hate 'em

[IcePlanet]

It takes at least 500 miles for the Smart car to break in and 100-200 miles for it to adapt to your driving style. Until then it will run, ride and shift rough. When I took my first drive in my Smart at 10 miles it ran really really rough, jerky, and the shifting was all over the place. I also wasn't used to this type of car. I'm at 800 miles now and it is a different car than what it was at 10 miles. The shocks take the bumps better and it shifts much smoother. You also can't drive a Smart car like you drive your 250 horse power automatic transmission sedan. This is the first new car that I have driven that really needs a break in period before you can achieve its full potential.
The reviewer had to have tested a Smart with less than 200 miles on it and didn't drive more than 50 miles in it.
True, it will never be as smooth as a larger car or SUV so if that is what you want in a car then the Smart is not for you. If you want excitement in your driving get an expensive Italian sports car or a Smart car.

[flywithsean]

Originally Posted by Dunerunner

Why would Consumer Reports even print a review this skewed?

Do you remember what Consumer Reports did to the Suzuki Samurai?

Consumer Reports says they are unbiased but I feel that they let personal opinion into their decision making.

I had a Suzuki Samurai and loved it and never had a problem with it. In fact if they were still made today I would buy another one.

[cfargo]

Consumer reports is influenced by advertising dollars and is WRONG way too often. If you are in an industry that you know factually well, see how they rate products that you know. I'm a camera repairman by trade and I have seen consumer reports rate cameras very high and soon after the companies quit selling cameras altogether in this country because of their poor quality. So take the consumer reports and use it as toilet paper.